Getting Away
by SSCeles
Summary: Ancient Egypt AU: Bakura, after killing Mahado, is finally caught. But instead of getting an expected death sentence... he's made to Pharaoh's pet! Can Bakura escape from this hell? Warnings: Atemu x Bakura. Nonexplicit rape. Blood, torture, swearing.
1. Introduction

_(Original authors note: This was originally going to be a one-shot song fic, slightly alternate ancient Egypt with a hinted pairing of Atemu x Bakura with Bakura as the uke and not even in the "relationship" by choice. This contains swearing, suggestive mature themes including violence, torture, and rape, though nothing goes into any detail, save for your imaginations. Let them run wild because does not allow sexual explicit content. Enjoy.)_

_(Author's note as of 9/5/06: Hey I didn't know banned songfics. So I'll be removing the lyrics. But this chapter was...  
__**meant to go to the lyrics of "GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER" by PAPA ROACH  
**so GO LISTEN TO THAT SONG! Thank you, and that is all. Please enjoy this "introduction" chapter to my ancient Egypt AU.)_

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Blood splattered in all directions as Bakura rushed pass guards while running down the steps of the several story palace. Daggers in each hand, he was slicing through whomever dared to stand in his way. This was a frantic escape attempt. With graceful leaps and bounds he'd already descended several sets of stairs, and he was now nearly ground level. Yet he could only pray that there weren't archers outside waiting for him.

Suddenly the stairs stopped and ended with a balcony. It was too far to the next stairwell to the left, and armored guards were closing him in from both directions and the stairwell behind him. Pinned against the balcony railing he held the daggers out across his chest protectively. He would not be going down easily. He refused to. Taking one last step back, his foot collided with the railing. Skillfully leaping over he descended the last two stories in mid air.

Arrows whizzed by him like today's speeding bullets as he hit the ground. Bakura took off; dashing directly towards the city gates. Though soaked in blood, not only the guards, but his own as well, it didn't seem to phase him even as it dirtied his white hair and caked in his wounds. He fled, with a calm panic that ate into primal instincts, making him run faster and faster, dodging people, carts, animals, and children who were being scurried indoors by their mothers.

Admittedly, he regretted to have sliced through so many guards. However, now was no time to reflect as he raced on, the outer gates of the city getting closer. He wanted his freedom, and he wanted it NOW. It had been flee or fight and fleeing came more naturally to his instincts as a thief. Bakura was not running because he'd stolen something. And he was not running because he had killed someone important. In fact, he was empty handed aside from the daggers he'd stolen off the first guard he'd simply knocked out.

Specifically, Bakura was running from the palace because he had had enough of being the pharaoh's personal pleasure pet. He couldn't bring himself to suicide. So he waited and waited for the perfect time to attempt escape. He'd tried and failed before, memories of those times brought harsh punishments which he still had scars from back into mind. This time he wanted to succeed.

Guards, tens of them, held their grounds at the gates. If Diabound hadn't been taken away from him, this would be easy, but as it was, Diabound was sealed away in a stone slab and hidden away someplace. Bakura ran head long into the guards, slashing and slicing with his daggers. A guard caught Bakura from behind and one of the daggers was ripped from his grasp as the other guards surrounded him. He struggled through them to the gates. Locked as they were, he wanted out. He wouldn't give up, he didn't want it to all be in vain. This was his last fucking hope for crying out loud. Another guard grabbed him and pinned him to the closed gates. Bakura struggled, futile tears of anger and hate clouded his vision and he gave up his fury. Looking past the guards, he saw the arrogant pharaoh. Looking down at him with contempt from the balcony.

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_(Author's note: I may rewrite this story at any given time. If I do, I'll add an additional author's note to the top or bottom of the chapter. If I want to make serious changes like adding entire scenes that won't allow because of their "sexually explicit" nature then I'll just rewrite parts of the entire thing for I'll be sure to tell you guys when/if this story is moved. If this fic is deleted for any reason, I will get ahold of however many reviewers I can and probably complain in my authoress bio. So... later. And be sure to review._ n. 


	2. Everything You've Done

_**(author's note: --points at flamer-- Die. --flamer puffs into smoke-- There. And for the rest of you... another chapter.) **_

Willingly letting himself be dragged back to within the palace walls, Bakura's face held no emotions. Except for a stubborn glare up at the pharaoh himself as he turned away from the scene below, cape fluttering. Bakura clenched his teeth. This wasn't going to be taken lightly. 

He closed his eyes and felt the shadows of the arches of buildings pass over him. Would he ever get out of his hell? The peace of the moment was ripped away as he felt himself being dragged back into the throne room. He opens his eyes just in time to be thrown before pharaoh.

Tittering as he lost his balance, he started to get up as the guards pinned him in a kneeling position with a hand on his shoulders.

"Bakura..." Atemu rolled the white haired teen's name off his tongue with lust, "You know better than to run away, what does it take to get it through your head?"

"Fuck you," Bakura hissed under his breath.

"What was that?" Atemu raised his eyebrows, "You can't possibly want to make this any worse on yourself."

"I don't give a damn! Why won't you let me leave this place!" he retaliated.

"Because you haven't accepted your punishment. You belong to me."

"I belong to no one you faggot!" Bakura seethed.

The guards started, "Sir, should we-"

"No. Save it." Atemu turned his attention back to Bakura, "Are you sorry for what you've done? Everything you've done? All the evil you've spawned?"

Bakura's mouth twisted into a belligerent smirk as he repeated the question, "Are you sorry for what you've? Everything you've done?" but he continued far beyond, "Are you sorry that it had to be your father and your priests that had to murder my village? Are you sorry that you didn't realize I had every right to help in the assassination of your father and pillage his tomb? Are you sorry that you forgot to mention it was only in self defense that Mahaado got himself dead in my hands? Are you sorry for ACCUSING me!"

Atemu slapped Bakura across the face cold and hard, "You're a dirty thief. You're a scoundrel. You're a liar. You're a tomb robber who desecrates tombs. You're a murderer. You rebel against the government and conspire against me, the pharaoh, the one who represents all that is right and good. Do you DENY you deserve what you've gotten yourself into you RAT! You are the embodiment of pure evil. You never HAD to do all those things you did."

"Funny." High Priest Seth muttered as he wandered into the throne room, stepping out from the shadows, "Haven't you and the whore had this conversation before?"

"You stay out of it shithead. We all know you wish the pharaoh would have never of been born that way you could be ruler of the world."

Seth shot a menacing glare at the teen, but decided offhandedly to ignore him, "My pharaoh... shall we take care of him now?"

Atemu's eyes shifted from Seth to Bakura and nodded in affirmation.

The guards heaved Bakura to his feet and started to drag him towards the dungeons. The torture chambers. Unwilling to show his fear of impending fate, Bakura's heart skipped a beat as he spat towards Atemu's direction.

"Fucking bastard. I hope you burn in hell, pharaoh!"

Atemu smiled as if complimented and sarcastically made a come back, "Love you too, tomb robber."

Bakura growled and fought against the guards who tugged more forcefully as the large wooden doors separating the throne room from the halls closed behind them.


	3. A Pity

**_(author's note: Yes. The swearing IS intentional. Yes, I know that Bakura's supposed to be the bad guy. He still is. Just Atemu's gonna be a little bit... on the same level. But then again, Atemu isn't going to be all that bad either. Neither is a bad or good guy. This story is supposed to represent the constant struggle between good and evil. You may not quite get it till it gets angsty, but Bakura's going to regret a few things he's done, but not give a damn. Atemu's gonna realize he's made a mistake, but not bother to correct himself. So neither is perfect. Last of all, I know some of you don't want me to hurt Bakura too bad... well... let's just say I could have done a lot worse than I did. Read now. Ja.)_**

In under five minutes (With much struggling on Bakura's behalf), Bakura was hanging from a hook on the ceiling, his wrists tied together and the rope wound tight around the hook. And to stop from Bakura wriggling his hands free (even though his toes barely touched the ground), both palms of his hands were sliced just enough for them to sting like hell if he tried to escape.

The guards did their business wordlessly, ignoring Bakura's curses and death threats... which they already knew that no doubt they'd get. Pharaoh joined them, and sat in a purplish red velvet portable throne. He was followed in by several servants carrying buckets of water. Salt water.

The guards then grabbed various weapons... whips, and other such things... most of which had dangly sharp objects on them. But not all of them would be put to use. Pharaoh didn't want Bakura so injured he couldn't... entertain him later.

"Bakura... this will all pass so much more easily if you say 'I love you Atemu-sama, and I'm sorry for ever disobeying you.'"

"In your dreams, you sick freak."

A scribe behind Atemu made a tally mark on a sheet of papyrus.

"Hmmm..." the pharaoh mused, "Then will you at least-"

"I'm not going to do anything for you EVER! And someday I will kill you mercilessly, laugh as I rip your beating heart out and feed it to Ammit! And then I will dance on your grave and finish what I've intended!"

Bakura let out a crisp, slightly insane burst of laughter, his eyes and fingers twitching. The very thought of murdering pharaoh has been the only thing that's kept him remotely sane for several months now.

Atemu frowned, his eyes narrowing, "Well then, slave, that doesn't give me much incentive to give YOU any mercy either."

He turned to the scribe, "Ten tally marks."

The pharaoh then turned back to Bakura and closed his eyes and thoughtfully proclaimed, "And six more. For his escape attempt."

"That's a total of seventeen, sir," the scribe chirped.

"Begin then."

What little of a shirt-like coat Bakura had was ripped off and discarded behind a guard. A whip lashed out from another guard, stinging Bakura's flesh. Bakura only gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes. He'd felt the sting of a whip before. Nothing new. The bittersweet pain only made his goals even more clear: Someday he'd kill all these bastards.

The whip cracked several more times, the scribe keeping count, when all of a sudden Atemu raised his hand for it to cease.

"All right. Time to take a break, shall we?"

Sweat trickled down Bakura's forehead, and blood trickled down his back. Some wounds were deeper than others, but nevertheless there was a steady flow of blood down to a growing puddle on the stone floor. So far, Bakura hadn't made a sound, determined not to be broken in so easily.

Atemu stood up and walked around Bakura, examining him, "Have you changed your mind?"

"Hell no."

The pharaoh sighed and rolled his eyes, grabbing a bucket from a slave boy. Atemu angrily sloshed the entire contents of the bucket onto Bakura's back and dropped the bucket. It clattered to the floor as Bakura's will to not give into the pain faltered. He grunted and hissed, closing his eyes shut tight. The salty water slid down his back, burning into his cuts as it dried. He twitched, but new better than to uselessly struggle to get free.

Atemu shook his head and went back to his throne and snapped his fingers.

"Finish with him. Make sure he gets the rest. Seth you're in charge of watching over him and you can clean him up when its done. Feel free to... add on to his punishment should he curse at you. I'm going back upstairs. It's a pity he can't be with me tonight."

"Yes, a pity," Seth repeated solemnly.

But as soon as the pharaoh left the room, Seth let out his joy. He twirled around and sat in pharaoh's chair, making himself comfortable.

"You hear that whore? I get to clean the filth off of you," his grin was sly, "and you, of all people, should know what that means."


	4. Numb

**_(author's note: I appreciate your evaluations. Yes, I put -sama. Um, force of habit? But you're absolutely right... Oh and Mom bought me a pocket thesaurus. Might come in handy. I'm listening to a song called 'Trash' by Korn at the moment. Trying to get into a writing mood.)_**  
  
"Let's finish up quickly, shall we?"  
  
Bakura's head snapped up as the whip started up again. Only a few more, and he prayed it'd be at a steady pace so he could predict them. Remembering the last time Seth got a moment alone with Bakura, Bakura grimaced to himself. He'd never enjoy water quite as much ever again. Of course that's the normal reaction towards water people have when they've been half drowned.  
  
When precisely seventeen whip marks crisscrossed his back, the guards gathered up the equipment and towed it all away, not bothering to let him down.  
  
"Boy," he said, to the small slave boy with the bucket of salt water left. He nodded his head towards Bakura, "Empty your bucket so you can carry it back upstairs."  
  
The boy looked from Seth to Bakura. The only real thought that ran through the boys head at that moment was, 'The demon's gonna get mad at me.' And Bakura's intimidating glare was focused on the boy. Nevertheless the boy innocently splashed the bucket at Bakura quickly, and ran off.  
  
Bakura hissed at the sting as Seth approached. Seth lifted up a handful of his hair and pulled it tight in his fist.  
  
"Ow, shit, let go."  
  
Seth looked down at Bakura, "Why'd you have to bring up my wanting to dethrone Atemu earlier? I was just finally getting on his good side."  
  
"It's only the truth," Bakura said simply, ferociously glaring Seth in the eyes, "We all know you want to be second to none."  
  
Seth hummed in agreement, but didn't loosen his grip on Bakura's hair.  
  
Bakura continued rashly, "And you're a sore loser to top that."  
  
Seth's eyes narrowed, but his actions took a different turn. He let go of the fist full of hair and traced his finger down Bakura's jaw line gently. Bakura shot out like rabid dog, snapping his teeth at the finger. Seth withdrew his finger and lifted Bakura's chin up harshly.  
  
"No biting, slave."  
  
The first impression one would always get when looking at Seth was. 'Dang, he's taller than me.' Honestly, there must have been a nearly a foot and a half difference between Atemu and Seth. Using his height, Seth reached up at that moment and turned the hook, sliding it off coil it was hooked on.  
  
Bakura landed with a thud on the floor, and the ropes around his wrists were quickly grabbed up by Seth, and still attached to the other end, Bakura was jolted to his feet and was lead of the room by Seth. Being forced to walk after so much blood loss, the thoughts in Bakura's head fogged over.  
  
He did not wish to die, his will would not allow it. Of all things, what he wished most was to have lead a normal life. He had asked pharaoh once why it had to be him, and he only supposed it had to be someone. And his answer to the question 'what if it were you?' was answered simply, 'it's not, so why should I care?'.  
  
Bakura continued on, dragged by Seth up the spiral staircase to the ground floor. Overwhelming numbness covered him like an invisible veil, the blackness of a dark room would cover someone like a glove. The feeling of impending doom was not unfamiliar, as was the way he was somehow moving against his will, though he'd much rather just plop down on the steps and cling to the railing for dear life. But that would be weak and childish among other things...  
  
As they dawned upon the private bathing rooms, a thought finally floated through Bakura's head, shaking him out of his melancholy mood.  
  
'Aw crap. Not again.'  
  
**_(random author's note at end of chapter: Next chapter... lets see... how to write it without ffnet (funny how they wont let me put ff with a dot net there anymore, they delete it with the editor) totally killing my story and my inspiration.)_**


	5. Atemu's Game

(Author's notes: After carefully reading through the Terms of Service and the story writing guidelines and if you don't like this chapter, before reporting if you feel necessary, please tell me how you would like it fixed so I can correct it. To everyone else, please leave your email address this time around so I may collect them and e-mail you when and if I decided to post the fic elsewhere. Things take a suprising turn in this chapter...)  
  
Ropes were quickly unbound from Bakura's wrists as he was forcefully shoved into the large pool, making a large clap of a splash as the water collapsed in around him. The depth of the water was more than Bakura could touch the bottom, and every second more it took to get back to the surface tugged at his lungs like a small itch of insanity. And though it wasn't more than a foot or so, the eruption to the surface was filled with curses and gasps for air.  
  
He pushed against the water uselessly with his arms and legs. Swimming was not one of his traits and something he wasn't good at. Even still, the barely fathomable distance of three feet below his own feet was enough to disturb his sense of wanting solid ground. He pushed against the water, in a sort of dog paddling way, away from Seth who was stripping near the closed entrance to the room.  
  
'Must get away. Must get to solid ground. Oh Sahkmet, please help me, for the love of all that is moral and ethical. Don't let him rape the hell out of me again!' Bakura's thoughts screamed.  
  
The large doors to the room suddenly opened again. Bakura heard them, and swiveled around in the water. The pharaoh was back?  
  
"Seth, I think I've changed my mind. I don't trust you with him. He's absolutely right as a matter of fact, you have been trying to dethrone me more than I'd like. I don't want you stealing anything from me that's mine."  
  
Bakura noticed that since he'd stopped in the water, blood was washing off, make the water a fuzzy light red. 'Crocodiles would love to merely smell this water. Water and blood... I hate this.'  
  
"But my pharaoh..." Seth attempted to argue, the conversation continuing.  
  
"Hush, Seth."  
  
The door closing behind him, Bakura could finally see Atemu clearly. He was wrapped in a large blood red towel, his puzzle he held in one hand. Atemu walked over to a chair and hung the puzzle from it.  
  
"Seth, go make sure my dinner will be done as soon as I'm ready to get out."  
  
"Don't you want me present just in case-"  
  
"No, Seth, I don't want you here."  
  
Bakura was actually quite relieved with the news that Seth was leaving. He stayed quiet and still in the water, hoping he wouldn't be noticed. But sure enough, as Seth gave up arguing and left the room and the doors shut tightly behind him, Atemu's eyes shot in Bakura's direction. He smiled softly, almost kindly, giving no hint to any malicious thoughts which surely must be hidden within him someplace. Bakura's insides twitched with the mere thought.  
  
Atemu walked along side the pool gracefully, "The pool's shallow ledge is at the other end, come follow me," he said nonchalantly.  
  
Reluctantly, Bakura did so, musing that not doing so could be worse. And the young pharaoh was much better than Seth, Bakura took more kindly to be ordered around. He semi-swam to the edge of the pool, and clung to it, using it to propel himself down the length of the pool. Atemu smiled with that smile again as the white haired thief came closer. Atemu laid down another bundle of towels on the ground and unfolded it, revealing soap and perfumes and sponges. His towels fell off revealing he was completely nude without them, and he slid into the water. Cringing disgust was plastered on Bakura's face, but as pharaoh turned to him, he tried to give a fake smile, or at least hide his disgust.  
  
"Come here, my kitten," Atemu slurred.  
  
Half annoyed by being called kitten for the forty-fifth time that day, and half disgusted that he was even IN such a situation, he neared pharaoh, wondering where and how long ago he left his free will and common sense behind. Still smiling in his happy manner, Atemu turned back to the soap and took up a sponge and rubbed it in the soap till it was foamy and sprayed perfume on it.  
  
"Bakura... you've been very bad today, haven't you?"  
  
Bakura grunted in recognition, hoping two feet two inches was all the closer pharaoh had meant by 'come here.'  
  
"You think you've been punished enough?"  
  
"If I say yes, will you not try to clean my hair again?"  
  
"Oh, but we must get the blood out, its just unclean."  
  
Bakura glared sharply at the young pharaoh as he just laughed and took the soapy sponge and rubbed it in Bakura's hair, lathering it around.  
  
"Come on, don't give me that look," Atemu said with a fake pout, "Now we must get the soap out of your hair..."  
  
Atemu pulled himself onto Bakura's chest, holding Bakura's arms at his sides and before Bakura could get away they both fell under water. Bakura's feet shot out from under him, the only thing keeping him to semi solid ground. He tried to get a gasp of air before going under but to no avail because... Atemu crammed his tongue into Bakura's mouth just as the water crashed in above their heads.  
  
Eyes wide open, Bakura watched the distance between him and the surface grow farther. His fear of water returned, and he struggled, but Atemu clung to him tightly. As he tried to kick away, he suddenly stopped all his futile attempts for a few moments as he felt Atemu's legs position between his own. But the struggling returned. He couldn't breathe, he didn't want anything to happen to him in such a weakened state, and he didn't want the brat who was five inches shorter and a whole year younger to over power him. He bit down on Atemu's wandering tongue, even though he knew he'd be punished greatly for that later, and struggled away, scrambled to the surface and getting the breath of air he'd been wanting.  
  
"You!" the young pharaoh yelled as his head emerged from the water, "How dare you! Must I teach you another lesson?!"  
  
His hair, when wet, wasn't exactly so spiky, but then again, wasn't exactly laying down flat. Bakura, on any other occasion, would have taken time to laugh at his hair, but at that exact moment, he figured it better to run away. But... you can't run in water. And pharaoh had years of practice swimming in deep water it would seem. He caught up the flailing Bakura, who was currently really tired, and grabbed a fistful of hair and tugged it along behind him.  
  
"Stop struggling, you're only gonna hurt yourself."  
  
Bakura sighed and he felt himself float, and he was pulled to the ledge again and pharaoh climbed out of the pool, dragging Bakura out as well and onto the stone floor.  
  
"Well, at least you're clean," he smiled again and leaned close, knocking Bakura flat on the floor. Atemu placed his hands to either side of Bakura and grinned.  
  
"Why do you do these things..." Bakura wondered aloud as the water dripped off of both of them. And the warm air in the room seemed to get a little warmer.  
  
"I only do it for the fun, that's my game."  
  
(End author's note: That last line there is from a song I was listening to for inspiration. 'Counting' by Korn. See? The chapter wasn't... so bad... yet. Just to say... as most of you should know, it was perfectly common for ancient Egyptians to have public bathing. Let's see how for I can push things.... and to the fact I've never written anything like this before... ideas ANYONE?) 


	6. Flashbacks: Something's Got to Give

**_(author's note: laughs insanely for a few moments Okay well, put it this way: Gross or not, it has no content that ffnet would disapprove of in it so far. And I'm not going to cross that line until/unless I post the story at a different site. The TOS and the Writing Guidelines state no NC17 content, no explicit sex scenes, and explicit means in detail. Of which, I've done none of. If you don't like it, don't read, I intend to write this the way I want to write it. And since most people are loving it so far, I'm going to keep going. But lol, if you're that squeamish, feel free to skip the first paragraph. But I'm not going to give you any warnings. This chapter is mostly flashbacks.)_**

Atemu leaned down farther and pressed his mouth against Bakura's. Knowing that both not doing anything at all or fighting back weren't very good options with very good consequences, Bakura stared at the ceiling as Atemu's tongue wandered his mouth and finally started sucking on his tongue. Bakura winced, again wondering for the second time that day when it'd be that'd he'd finally escape from this place.

Kicking and screaming is in what manner he was dragged into his own personal temporary prison half a year ago. The Egyptians didn't have jails. People were sent down to Nubia - to the mines - instead of doing time in jail. However, that wasn't going to happen to Bakura. No. Far from it.

He had been only going to be there until they had figured out what do with him. Hah. I meant finding the proper way to KILL him. For that is the punishment for being a such a bold thief. A bold enough thief to go tomb robbing. Plundering tombs was no big deal to Bakura, he'd been doing it for years. But that time, oh but that time, he was caught. He was doomed.

He remembered when he was back in the small room he was locked in. He'd been caught TWICE before. They'd let him off with a warning the first, a two week community service and small whipping at the next. Oh but this. But this last time had been much bigger. He thought he was gonna DIE this time. He over heard it. He anticipated it.

What were they going to sentence him with he had wondered? The famous 'Seven Cuts'? Where they going to hand him over to the public so they could stone him to death? Were they going to shove him off a platform onto spikes? Any which way around it, it wasn't going to be a quick nor merciful death.

But he could escape anything, couldn't he? He could out wit any situation. Including death.

Bakura remembered thinking to himself, "I could escape from my sentencing at my soon coming trial, couldn't I?"

How very wrong he was.

How very wrong indeed.

He escaped death. But not his punishment. And in life, there can be far, far worse, things than death.

**_(flashback, Bakura's point-of-view because I pre wrote it and it's not in third person --)_**

_I was thrown into the court room roughly._

_"Hey watch it!"_

_"We aren't here to keep your comfort zone in place. Shut up, thief," the guards scowled back at me._

_I was forcefully sat down in a chair in the middle of the room, and the guards tied me there with rope. I don't really know how necessary that was though. The guards remained behind me. To either side of me there more people in chairs, staring at me. The court. _

_I had like... no one on my side. Yah. I was so getting the death sentence._

_And in front of me, there was the young pharaoh. Atemu the idiot. And to either side of him, his five major priests. And right at his side was the High Priest, his adviser, Seth. Everyone had bored expressions on their faces, as if this was the normal mundane routine. Wait. What am I talking about? It IS their normal mundane routine. Even the pharaoh himself was losing interest fast._

_Pharaoh Atemu, of all of them, would have the least pity for me. I dragged his father's corpse half way through town and through the royal sanctum. His father deserved the embarrassment. I hope his afterlife, if such a thing existed, was an absolute hell. That'd be a laugh. I'd managed to escape from getting caught then too. Just as I'd escape from this mind trap. And on top of that, I murdered the pharaoh's best friend, Mahaado. I'd stolen the "Millennium Ring" as they called it from him, but now that I was caught they'd long since taken that back from me._

_Seth examined me from his place across the room almost thoughtfully. People were still noisily filing into the room to watch my trial. Seth then for no apparent reason leaned over and tapped Atemu on the shoulder and whispered something in his ear and gestured towards me._

_My ears perked, but couldn't pick anything up. Too far away. By this time, I was getting pretty irritated by my surroundings. Were they done coming in yet? I wanna get this over with. I'll be dead by sun up tomorrow anyway, what's the big deal?_

**_(end flashback in Bakura's point-of-view)_**

**_(start another flashback, third-party point-of-view)_**

On the opposite side of the room as the captured thief Bakura, was Pharaoh Atemu.

Atemu had had his fourteenth birthday nearly half a year ago. His father had died when he was young, so he was lifted to the position of pharaoh very early in life. His High Priest would have been pharaoh if he had not been around to succeed the throne, but High Priest Seth seemed to have gotten over that in the past fourteen and a half years.

Egypt was a nice place over all. Everything was tame and under control until this white haired thief came along. Bakura was his name, as they all knew by now. He'd made sure of it. He had declared himself King of Thieves in mockery of Atemu's royal ceremony to ascend to the throne.

Bakura seemed to be the source of all evil and mischief and overall chaos in the new world. He absolutely radiated with this worrisome behavior. It spread like wild fire, the wrong doings he committed. Evil had been invented by the city he was from, and when the priests had destroyed the city to get rid of the evil that was threatening to infect the world, Bakura somehow remained alive, and all the evil that had been became part of him. And he blamed it all on the Pharaoh, and his line of successors.

He was the very opposite of everything the royal sanctum stood for. Finally they were getting rid of him so he couldn't spread his filthy habits anymore.

Atemu was anxious, but bored out of his mind, to participate in the white haired thief's trial. His minded drifted to other things...

Seth stood behind Atemu's throne equally impatient. He had other matters to attend to. Like the fact that the young pharaoh wanted some more interesting members in his harem. The girls there were too old, and they'd been used to their pathetic life far too long.

But finding new members for a harem was always tough. You'd have to talk to slave traders and you'd have ask if anybody was actually willing. But Seth knew from his own small harem that the willing ones got boring after a while.

He watched the thief closely. He was doomed to death. Alone in the corrupt little antisocial mind he had created. Aloof to the rest of the world. The thief took what he wanted when he wanted, and more often than not got away with it. And that ghostly white hair of his fitted him well, being the demon he was.

Wait.

Seth examined the thief more closely. 'Die alone in his corrupt little antisocial mind,' Seth repeated to himself. Heh. This brat was as far from willing as you could get.

And such pretty white hair.

And he was doomed anyway. Just a thought, but this would be quite an interesting member to add to the young Pharaoh's harem. But he'd need to be broken first. He might have to help with that... but he'd attend to that later. And if it didn't work out he could always still get his death sentence.

Doomed was the thief anyway. Seth leaned over and tapped Atemu on the shoulder...

The trial began and the jury spent a few minutes discussing accusations against Bakura. And Bakura admitted he was guilty every single time with a 'yah, so what?' smirk on his face. He cussed out several people, and got a smack over the head a few times from the guards.

"So now, it comes down to the last part of the trial. Our verdict was clear, he's guilty, of course, he even admits to it. Now to decide his fate. All in favor of killing him a certain way, say 'Hai' when its called out," droned a lower priest named Shadah.

"If I may," said Atemu, standing up and moving next to Shadah, "Instead of bestowing upon him death I have come up with another option."

He spoke both to Shadah, and to the entire courtroom. Remarks of "What could possibly be equal to death?" crept out of nearly everyone's mouth and they whispered among themselves. Bakura raised an eyebrow.

"Though it still is up to the court as a whole," Atemu continued, "I'd say instead of a death sentence, I'd give him a LIFE sentence."

Atemu pondered on how to get the wording out right while his audience waited in silent anticipation. Life sentences were unheard of.

"There are far much worse things than death. And don't you think he deserves the very worse we have to offer? I'll take it upon myself to deal with him. As long as he lives, he will be my own personal slave to do whatever I wish with. Instead of death, I will make his life miserable."

Nods of approval and accepting his good judgment swept through the room, but no one was quite sure what this meant.

"And if I want him dead, I'll kill him myself."

Bakura's mouth gapped ajar for a fraction of a second in confusion. They might be... going to let him live? What fools they are!! As long as Bakura was alive, Bakura could escape, and escape would be an easy task! And on top of that, it was the young bratty pharaoh who'd be in charge of him? How were they planning on making him suffer? They know nothing of the outside world beyond their palace gates. It was tough, and all of it had made Bakura tougher.

Bakura has never shown a fraction of emotion that he didn't want to disclose to the surrounding rest of the world. He's kept everything bottled up inside since the Kru-elna incident. No one can make him suffer any more than he'd suffered then. He was alone then. And he was still alone now. He feared nothing because he had nothing to fear. Death was welcome, he couldn't do that himself because he still had to try.

But this would be a piece of cake. He'd escape. A large mischievous grin crossed his face as the court around him decided his fate and their own.

"All in favor of the 'Life' sentence?" Shadah questioned the court.

"Hai!"

"Any in favor of anything else...?"

No one responded, because if the pharaoh wanted something done, it was done for him. And the fate of the thief was no exception.

Atemu eyed the thief, who was being dragged back out of the room. Seth had told him a few things. A few things that interested him. Atemu grinned darkly for the first time in his life and left the room.

Shadah scurried after him.

"Pharaoh, what do you want done with him?"

Atemu stopped, but did not turn around.

"Clean him up. If you have any questions, ask my High Priest."

Shadah bowed respectfully, "Yes, my pharaoh."

_**(end flashback)**_

_**(author's note: By the way... I'm not wasting MY time to go check your profiles for your email addresses. You either post them in your review or you email me at okay?)**_


	7. Assassination Attempt

_**(Author's note: I knew someone would complain about the 'hai'. Well you're absolutely 100 incorrect. "Hai" and "Nay" are used around the world in courtrooms. So unless you are aware of this, I suggest you go watch some more tv and get out a little more. Uhm, next topic. The Orichalcos Doom series isn't so bad after all... watched the dub 'cause I was bored. Pharaoh lost the duel, Yugi lost his soul, and he got to be evil for more than half the episode! I knew he had it in him somewhere!)**_

Atemu, satisfied with having his before dinner fun, got up, grabbed his cloak, stood up, dried his hair off somewhat, and wrapped it around him.

"Come on, Bakura, you're hungry I'd bet. I'll give you a 'taste' of freedom before I lock you back up in my room, how's that sound?"

Bakura looked down to another cloak that the pharaoh left. He snatched it up and put on as Atemu turned and walked around the pool, took his Puzzle off the chair, and put it back on. Bakura got up and followed, happy nothing more had happened than what did. And his wounds felt a little better, he had to admit. The salt was washed out, and the wounds were clean of dirty blood and clean blood filled the crevasses, soon to be weak scabs. Whipping wounds healed quickly, even quicker with the help of a healer, but the scars lingered for months, maybe years or life depending on how deep they are. But that wasn't Bakura's concern.

He followed Atemu over to the doors, where, he knocked, and the doors were opened for him. Bakura had been noticing that pharaoh got all his doors opened for him, all he had to do is knock. At least the big doors. The little doors and curtains he did himself, but he never touched the big wooden ones. Bakura often wondered how those things stayed on their hinges anyways. He looked at the said hinges as he walked under the door and into the arms of a bunch of slave girls, who grabbed him and took his coat, lifting up his arms and dressed him in a quick cheery manner. That's what the slaves did. Of course all Bakura has was a wrap around loin cloth and a slightly waist long vest, both made of the same white, soft material that he'd learned to hate. It didn't make noise, it didn't itch, it just felt like you weren't wearing anything. And that's exactly why he disliked the material.

Pharaoh was dressed in his usual attire, full with jewelry and earrings. He turned and smiled, "Dinner time."

He then turned back around and walked down the hall, into the outer hall, and the fresh night breeze suddenly hit Bakura. The air was oddly moist, it was always dry in Egypt. But seasons did change... and he'd been gone a long time. Atemu ran his fingers on the outer railing as he walked, looking first at the night sky, and then to the twinkling lights of the city below. If you looked close enough you could see whole families sleeping out on their roofs in the open air.

Bakura folded his hands across his chest. The clothing he was wearing also wasn't good for the cold night time breeze. It got cold at night in the desert. And his wet hair still dripped even after it was "dryed off" with his cloak. But his hair always seem to take hours to dry. Then the smell of dinner hit him. Smelled like.... roast chicken and chives, and probably more than one.

Atemu and Bakura stopped and the doors were thrown open for them. The noise and the aromas of the banquet hit them both, momentarily stunning them, but then it invited them in. Bakura didn't care for social gatherings unless he was there to crash the party. He had nothing to do, and Atemu really had never brought him to too many. He walked close behind Atemu, and when he was seated at his throne, Bakura was told to sit at the floor by his side. Bakura did so stubbornly, but his fit ended when the food was wheeled closer. He suddenly rememered that he couldn't remember the last time he ate nearly so well as he had the possibility of tonight. His mouth watered as the chicken was uncovered. Slave girls bounced around, with forks and knives and sticks and spoons and something some of you would yell at me if I called them chopsticks.

The slave girls were the taste testers, as this was somewhat their dinner too. They ate, and fed pharaoh somewhat at the same time. Bakura wondered when he was going to get fed. He reached for a knife to cut off a chicken leg, but his hand was swatted away by two of the girls simoltaneously and got glared at by them. Bakura sat back and sighed, looking across the room.

There was Seth and he was talking to some guy. Some guy with a big scimitar. Seth smiled crookedly and handed the man a large sack that the man opened and nodded in agreement. He tied the sack to his waist, nodded again to Seth, and disappeared behind the curtain they were near. That was mysterious. That guy wasn't a guard, he wasn't in the right robe. And no one was allowed in the palace with a weapon except under very strict rules, Bakura was sure. He watched the man's shadow in the curtain as it circled the room, getting closer. Bakura glared at the shadow, tried to ignore it, but couldn't.

And then, when he felt he was being watched from behind, he saw the guy out of the corner of his eye, out of the curtain, and about two feet away, behind the throne and raising his scimitar. An assassin?! Instinctively, Bakura reached out for the same knife he had been refused earlier, took it, swung around, and lunged the knife into the assassin with the back of his hand; straight into the guy's gut. And he slashed... but the knife got stuck so he let go quickly and dug away as the scimitar nearly cut his arm clean off. The slave girls screamed and backed away, Atemu turned around in his throne, Seth's head shot up, along with five other priests, not to mention the guards, and Bakura just ducked away under the table a bit.

The assassin, all eyes on him, gave a groan, his face visible twitched and he coughed once, twice, and this time blood dripped out of the corner of his throat. The scimitar dropped and the man fell to his knees. He ripped the knife out of his side, stared at it, clutched his side and fell over. And that was the end of him. Atemu stared at the gruesome sight, coughed, and turned around.

"Whew... it's been a long day..." he muttered.

"Pharaoh," Bakura said, crawling out from under the table, "The assassin, I just saw Seth pay him!!"

Atemu looked up at Bakura and considered what he said, "Why'd you stop him though? Thought you wanted me dead?"

Bakura couldn't answer. He looked at the dead man and back to the food, changing the topic he said, "I'm hungry."

Atemu nodded, "Well I think I lost my appetite," he paused, "SETH! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!! RIGHT NOW!!"

Pharaoh marched off toward Seth, and Bakura turned them out as he chowed down on Atemu's food. The slave girls long since ran off, and the guards were carrying the man away, followed in by some slaves to clean up the mess...

**_(end author's note:IMPORTANT: Mail me at_ Bakura957 (at) aol . com_. If you write your email in the review, it will show up without the (at) someplace part, and I can't contact you like that. So space things out, please. Thanks. Remember, (at) somplace . com. Again, sorry for spaces in everything.)_**

**h t t p : w w w . geocities . c o m / zokubakuchan**


	8. Haven't Started Plotting Again Yet

Bakura was shoved roughly back into pharaoh's quarters. He turned on heel. 

"Bastard!" he hissed at the guard, putting up his fists. 

"Yeah. What are you gonna do about it, whore?" the guard smirked and looked Bakura up and down. 

Bakura seethed and lunged for the guard. The door slammed in his face and he pounded on the giant heavy wooden door. 

"I know you're still out there! I'm going to get back at you someday. I'm going to get back at you all! You and your families! Kill every last one of them and leave you to mourn! Ra fucking dammit, I'm not a whore!" Bakura pounded on the door with his fists to every syllable of the last three words. 

After Bakura gave up with his pointless assault on the innocent door, he wandered slowly as his eyes adjusted to the rooms warmth and darkness to the deep red shades of the silky bed sheets. Bakura sat and wrapped a blanket over his bare shoulders and sighed. 

"I've got to get out of here... I shouldn't be here. This isn't fair! Zorc... where are you now... you promised you would help me..." 

His back hurt from the whipping, but since dinner they'd cleaned it and actually wrapped him in a giant stupid bandage shirt. Pharaoh wasn't pleased, but when he learned it would be off by tomorrow night he agreed. Even he had the common sense not to let Bakura die of some infection. So, now, it didn't exactly hurt, but it was numb. Which was just a sign of pain that he would otherwise still be feeling. 

Bakura has played all the games in the book with pharaoh. Every plot he's thought of to make his situation improve have failed. He'd tried being the perfect slave with a horrible day of "Yes, Master"'s that only ended in a nightmare of a night with Seth. Though Atemu had found it much amusing at first, it died off when Seth told him that Bakura was probably just trying to manipulate him. So it was the truth, but what was wrong with that? 

They enjoyed him all the more when he struggled and got angry when he did nothing at all and they punished him for that. Somewhere between not wanting to let them get what they want and not wanting to get his tongue or ear bit off like he'd seen Seth do to some of the slaves in the harem, Bakura had just about had with pretending to struggle even though he was tired and sick of it. There was no point. 

The door opened and the silhouette of pharaoh's hair let it be known who was entering before the doors slid to close again. Flames in candles high on the walls of the room flicked to life as Pharaoh walked over. He smirked and sat down next to Bakura as he kicked off his slippers. 

"So how was dinner for my "kitten?" Nice?" 

A shudder from Bakura. Same old pet name got him every time. He hated that, it didn't even match his personality at all. Kitten? Hell no. 

"Yes," Bakura said slowly, considering the fact pharaoh may not have approved of him eating so much, if at all, "Very nice. Thank you." 

"Mhmm. At least you've learned manners in your stay here." 

Atemu slipped an arm around Bakura and traced a few circles on Bakura's opposite shoulder with his finger. 

"Are things healing well?" he frowned at the bandages wrapped tightly all the way around his chest. 

"How should I know? I can't feel it." 

"Have you learned your lesson yet? You won't run away from me again, now will you?" 

Pharaoh pouted and brushed Bakura's messy hair behind his ear. Then he even went so far as to start to nibbling on Bakura's ear. 

"I haven't started plotting anything yet..." 

"Ch..." 

Atemu gently pushed Bakura down to the bed, and Bakura obliged to being pushed. He knew nothing would happen to him... Tonight, at least. He could fiend injury easily if need be. Pharaoh laid on top of Bakura and thoughtfully folded his arms over Bakura's chest and rested his head on his folded arms. Quick to find a topic before anything potentially hazardous could come up, Bakura asked... 

"So... what was up with Seth and the assassin?" 

"Seth denied paying him like you said. Your background gives you no say in accusing him, he said. I don't think he'd do something like that to me..."

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_(Author Note: Muahaha. Cliffhanger. I'll update again asap. Review?)_


	9. Persuasion

_(Author's Note: YES, that website I wrote to go to IS my website. I own zokubakuchan at geocities. Thank you for enjoying it! If you've been there within the past week you'll see there are new episode clips from the actual Japanese "Memory World" arc. I'm happy to say I just got a new miniature pet rabbit the other day. It's white and just a baby. It's cute and I'm calling him Touzo!)_

"Thank you," Pharaoh said slowly. 

"Hn?" 

"You killed a man who was trying to kill me. You saved my life. I'm thanking you." 

Bakura considered the pharaoh's words, a serious look on his face, "And what does that mean?" He could feel is heart pounding hopefully, "You spared my life, I saved yours, am I going to get anything else?" 

"It was a thanks. That's all you get." 

Atemu caressed the side of Bakura's face, "Did I get your hopes up that much?" 

Bakura's nostrils flared in warning at his touch. This was the anger that only came associated with fear, just another instinct Bakura wished he could avoid. He felt a surge run through him as he glared, and strained to control himself. Atemu took it all in, he knew how to stir up Bakura's emotions. 

"Kitten..." he purred the pet name he'd given his favourite slave. 

Bakura's breath quickened. Each time Atemu pulled stuff like this it scared him just as much as the first time had. And Bakura had assumed that just because he was injured nothing would happen to him tonight. The pharaoh smirked as a wispy layer of shadow magic engulfed his Millennium Puzzle. The puzzle floated off his neck and hung itself on the bed post. 

The flickering dim light of the candles high above lit up Atemu's crimson eyes. Atemu loved how the dim light seemed to make Bakura's hair glow. Bakura cringed as his breathing faltered. Ra, he hated being stuck into this. Bakura couldn't move and he wouldn't get far even if he tried. Atemu did have him pinned rather well, lying across his chest like that. Pharaoh was both younger and less physically as strong as Bakura, yet the once intimidating king of thieves was helpless to do much of anything. And this made the white haired teenager loathe the situation even more. 

Atemu licked the side of Bakura's face possessively with his tongue and traced it down his neck before latching his wet mouth on Bakura's unprotected neck. Bakura did nothing but glower in his own thoughts. 

"You're gross, pharaoh," he voiced his opinion, "Just sick and demented. One track mind." 

The monarch's head popped up from Bakura's neck and he frowned, "Now don't say that, you'll hurt my feelings." 

Dull purple eyes narrowed in restrained anger. This was torture, surly only meant to drive Bakura slowly insane. Pharaoh's warm breath on his neck seemed to take control of him, making every fiber of his being betray him. And not for the first time, he knew only anger could keep him under control at these times. To keep him off the brink. Bakura didn't have a single thought or feeling for Atemu besides hate, didn't he? So why does he give in so easily! 

Atemu was teasing and tormenting him, waiting for a reaction. Bakura clenched his teeth and turned his head away from pharaoh's view, strands of ghostly white hair falling over his eyes. He would not allow the pharaoh the pleasure of seeing how it affected him. A fine line it was, between keeping pharaoh from what he wanted without getting punished for it. 

Nervousness swept over him. More instincts kicked in. Panic. Fear. They had to be contained in moderate amounts or else things wouldn't have a good out come. Especially not the first night back in pharaoh's bed after an attempt at running away. He got off easy earlier today. Too easy. And to top that he had a full belly of actual food. He didn't want to lose that now. 

Suddenly a soft drumming came from above. Softly, but fast and with a rhythm like the wind. Atemu took his gaze off of Bakura's hair and looked up towards the high ceiling. Bakura looked up as well, but not looking for a source. Pharaoh looked back down when a puzzled expression and Bakura locked eyes with Atemu. 

"It's..." 

"...Raining." Bakura finished. 

Pharaoh hummed with awe and relaxed on top of Bakura. 

"It hasn't rained since I was little... I barely remember." 

Bakura licked his dry lips and a flash of light caught in the corner of his eye. He looked towards the large bolted wooden doors. Thunder crashed in the distance and Atemu jumped. 

"Holy Ra! What was that?" Atemu started and sat up. 

"Heh." 

Bakura wrapped an arm around Atemu's neck and pulled him back down gently. 

"Can we go see?" Bakura asked persuasively. 

The Pharaoh frowned, "You're not getting away from me like that again. I wouldn't dare let you out!" 

"I won't leave your side," Bakura replied solemnly. 

"Really?" Atemu said, not so sure. 

"You have every right not to trust me, but all the ability necessary to prevent me from running away again. If an excuse means anything to you, I wouldn't dare run away again so soon. I'm in a lot more pain than I'm letting on." 

Pharaoh's face went expressionless and he got up. 

"All right, come on. Let's go see the rain." 

Atemu grabbed Bakura by the hand and Bakura got up and trailed behind him. As Pharaoh approached the door it opened wide and the view of the flat landscape of Egypt sprawled out before them over the balcony. Rain parted over the balcony's roof and avoided them completely as they walked out, high and dry to the railing. 

They were both awestruck at the scene in front of them. There was the rain, and a dance of shadow and light in the distance as the sounds of thunder echoed through the stone hallways of the palace all around them. Caught off guard, Bakura's brain froze completely when Atemu wrapped an arm around his waist and asked... 

"Do you have any feelings towards me at all? Do... do you love me at all?" 

"In what way?" Bakura asked in auto response to by time in thinking of an answer. 

Pharaoh's shoulders slumped visibly, "No, then..." 

Bakura nearly bit his damn tongue off for responding so quickly, "Pharaoh, don't take that the wrong way... I.. uh.." 

Atemu looked up at Bakura with a look of remorse that made Bakura's heart that he'd locked up so far away inside himself start to melt. Bakura swallowed and made his best attempt at expressing himself. 

"The people of your country all love you. I mean to say that I've never shared that the same as everyone else. I have disliked you greatly for things you have done," Bakura looked away from Pharaoh's eyes that were searching for something in his own, "but at this moment in time... my feelings are very confusing. When I think of you, all I find is that I hate you for this. I hate what you've done, not you, really. ...Do I love you," he questioned himself and trailed off. 

"Bakura. I love you." 

Shocked again, Bakura looked down at Atemu, "You told me once that no one would ever give a damn about me. And you're right because there's not a single reason why anyone ever should." 

Things were quiet and Bakura began to think to himself that maybe telling Pharaoh that he was loved would be beneficial to his situation. It couldn't hurt. And maybe.. perish the thought... he did care about him a little. He saved his life today, did he not? That could change in the blink of an eye... or it could build and be beneficial. Getting emotionally attached to someone you've always hated could be very beneficial. With a reasonable enough excuse now, Bakura wrapped an arm over Atemu's shoulder. 

"I guess maybe I have feelings in that way for you.." 

Atemu had a genuine smile on his face. Hopefully, he asked, "Could you say that you love me then?" 

"I could say so..." 

"Say so." 

"Alright. I admit it. I love you." 

Atemu hugged Bakura tightly, "Everyone is constantly telling me that my people love me, but no one has ever actually directly told me that they themselves love me. In any way." 

Bakura blinked and followed the urge to run his hand through pharaoh's hair thoughtfully. Maybe this was the answer to all his problems? And he could back out at any time, if he wished... Why not open up to this vast opportunity? 

"It's cold, Pharaoh, can we go back inside?" 

"Yes.. call me by name.. please?" 

"Alright, Atemu." 

A plot was forming in Bakura's mind. And this time, it wasn't for escape. On Pharaoh's good side he could get the Millennium Items easily, and with very little persuasion. 

The large wooden door closed after they walked inside and a tall figure came out of hiding from down the hall listening in and cursed. Seth was going to have a long talk with the pharaoh the next day. He glared darkly and walked back to his room. 

"My Pharaoh needs to learn he can't give any of his slaves any leverage. He'll only found himself manipulated. And besides," Seth smirked evilly, "I want Bakura for myself." 


	10. Help from a Rival?

_(Author's note: This was going to be a small chapter,but I decided to add some stuff early.I've been at a friend's house for the past few days and read some more reviews now that I've returned and have decided again to update. I've gotten ideas for Out of the Void, so there may be a (small) chance that I will write more to it before I go to camp next week. Good news on that fic! As soon as I'm done with this fic it will blend right into the beginning of that one and then I will be updating it. And it is likely you will get another chapter out of me for this fic as well before then. Same with King of Thieves, one or two chapters may be added, thank Ra for them being prewritten.)

* * *

_

Bakura fretted as he remembered his morning. The night had been wonderful, at the time, at least. He actually made himself he could believe that he could manipulate the pharaoh through some kind of mutual relationship? _Damn, how wrong I was._

He sat uncomfortably cross-legged on the floor near the corner of the room as Seth continued jumping to conclusions. The other priests next to him nodded their heads in agreement. Pharaoh only listened, but every so often he let a glance over to Bakura.

_I hate how Seth talks as if I'm not even here. I don't care how worthless he thinks I am, I AM a human being and I AM present._

"My Pharaoh, I must agree with the High Priest on this matter. Although I did not agree with him being held captive in the first place, I accepted your decision with an open mind. But he still is and forever will be responsible for crimes he has committed that would have otherwise given him a death sentence. I must agree with him, he must be subservient to you at all times and forced to respect you and stay out of your affairs."

The other priest folded his arms and put his head down in a slight bow for, perhaps, a respectful gesture, "Criminals are to be treated as caged animals. Slaves are to be seen only for the purposes they serve."

Pharaoh pursed his lips before he responded, almost wittingly, in Bakura's slim defense, "Even criminals are to be treated with kindness. Slaves are given the chance to advance in their position, they can win their freedom when their masters think they have earned it."

"You cannot let such a criminal back onto the streets. He is far from a changed man. He was trying to deceive you last night."

Bakura rolled his eyes in disgust.

Done with the other priest's bantering, Seth humbled himself to get the last word, "Pharaoh will go on as he did before without interruption from us. However, allow me to punish Bakura. I swear I will not leave a mark on him, my Pharaoh."

Following that, Seth lead himself into a graceful bow at the waist and did not let himself up until Atemu finally sighed and let himself consent.

"Guards, take the slave back to my room. Seth may take him out tonight and do as he wishes."

Bakura was shocked that the argument ended so soon. Atemu turned and left the room abruptly, cape bouncing along behind him, without so much as a glance in Bakura's direction. He'd do that? Right after Bakura let himself open up after all this crap he's been through because of that brat? Bakura's eyes narrowed dangerously and he caught Seth's eyes on him.

Seth smirked and released his grip on the Millennium Rod that was slid into the band around his waist. A little persuasion from the other priests got him a night with Bakura. Excellent. He would not disappoint Pharaoh, who did not want Bakura's creamy chocolate tan marred.

Bakura scooted away from Seth's hungry eyes and was happy when the guards took him out of the room. Plans for escape already began to form inside his head. Pharaoh seemed not to give a damn about him after all. Who was deceiving who? Bakura glowered to himself as he was thrown back into pharaoh's room. He ignored all the insults and perverse comments from the guards and caught himself before he fell on his face because of their forceful push back inside. Instead of falling he just kept up moving by walking to the bed.

He lay back on the large bed and rested his arms behind his head as a pillow and closed his eyes. A while later a tap-tap-tapping from the ceiling woke him up. The light in the room was dim, it always had been, even with fully lit candles. He opened one eye squinted into the darkness above him in the massive room. What was up there? That's where the tapping was coming from.

"Who's up there?"

A startled squeak unveiled the tapper as female. So what was a girl doing in the palace rafters? Bakura could only wonder.

"Girl, I know you're up there. An unscrupulous way of travel, that is what those rafters are. Speak."

A light appeared from the rafters. A magical orb? And it lit up the girl's figure quite beautifully, Bakura mentally noted. However, he still couldn't clearly see who she was.

"...Who are you?" The girl's voice asked cautiously.

"Bakura."

She let out a scoff.

"You want help getting out, oh great King of Thieves?"

"Help wouldn't be below me at this point.

"Heh. The great one can steal anything but not himself out of the pharaoh's palace."

The girl tilted her head as if considering if she should help or not.

"I'll help you. I regret having to say you saved my life once so I have to help you to uphold my...erm.."

"Honor?"

"I guess you could put it that way. Pride was actually what I was going for."

Egotistic woman. He looked closer, did he recognize this girl? She sounded rather familiar. Mocking his title in that manner and all. Abruptly she grinned devilishly and the orb in her hand grew bright as the sun for a flash of a second. Bakura shielded his eyes at the intensity of the light, but it soon faded back to its dimmer self. Something whizzed by Bakura's ear that he could barely see coming. It lodged itself into the bed next to his head. He eyed it and pulled it out.

A golden dagger. He looked back up to the girl who was now sitting inquisitively on the rafters, legs crossed on top of eachother at the knee, arms crossed across the chest, one hand still holding the glowing orb. A fiery looking monster was floating behind her, not doing much help in illuminating who she was. She waved one of her hands down to Bakura.

"Here, let my monster heat the dagger. Shove it into the lock on the door and it will form itself into a key."

The monster drifted down. It was a human in shape but it was black and outlined only in the dim orange flames. Bakura warily held out the dagger. The creature reached out and caressed the dagger in both hands. The easily melted gold began to soften and Bakura crawled off the bed and to the door with it, holding it away from himself as so not to let the gold drip on his skin.

"Hurry now. Before it solidifies again."

"I'm going, I'm going."

Bakura rammed the dagger into the lock on the door and let go of the hot handle of the dagger. The fiery monster leapt back up to its master and faded out of existence next to her. He paused for a minute and reached out to the dagger again and as soon as the handle was cool enough to touch again he turned the dagger to the left as far as it would go, then pulled on an outer rim of the door and it moved. It wasn't as if guards actually guarded pharaoh's room all the time, and Bakura hadn't the slightest worry of them. Light filled the room through the crack of the door and Bakura looked back into the room and up to the girl.

And he DID know her. And he was disgusted that SHE had helped HIM. Eva. Oh Gods, why did it have to be Eva! A rival in all ways, she thought it all a competition against Bakura. Trying to rob tombs thinking that she had gotten there first, when in reality Bakura had already broken in and looted the place to the last spendable penny. Bakura glared up at her. This was just too weird.

"Eva."

She smiled as if glad to be recognized.

"Bakura."

"What the fuck do you think you're doing here?"

"Finding some food in the kitchens. You DO realize they are near here, don't you?"

"Yes," Bakura retorted, taken aback.

"I'll be on my way then, Thief King."

She stood up and walked away smiling on the rafter beam, hands clasped behind her back.

No. She's not an egotistic woman. She's an arrogant bitch. He hoped not to see her again. EVER. He could do without her trailing him. Sahkmet, lioness of revenge and war lay a curse upon her! Let her be caught. She thinks she can mock Bakura so easily. However... he looked out over the balcony of the palace and to the expansive city below. He was out and he was taking this opportunity, no matter who had just helped him.

* * *

_(Author's Note: Haha. I bet you don't the like OC, Eva. But she isn't a Mary Sue, and you won't be seeing any more of her. I want to introduce some colorful characters of several backgrounds that Bakura already knows. Some are my friends characters, others are from my roleplays and they played an important part in the idea of this story. Sorry, this is just how it goes. Yet again, I'm sorry also about this: don't review and say that you want your OC in here. It won't likely happen. I know the plot of this story until the very end and most of the character slots are filled. So unless you want to be a not so colorful farmer or fisherman... I think no. The characters here will likely play a part in my other fanfic, Thief King. So if you really want you AE OC in a fic of mine, look to my other fic.)_


	11. Escape?

_I actually had this chapter done a long time ago…_ O-o_ I never put it up. I must have forgot to, sorry guys._

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Chapter 10½ - 11

With a dart and a dash he was out of that room and down the hall. His clean white robes and bandages mocked the white lotus blossoms painted on the walls. Vaguely remembering the positions of the guards on his last escape, and his knowledge of the servant corridors, Bakura ran until he was around a corner and leaning over a balcony above the palace gardens. He quickly looked down among the lush trees that had branches and ferns. He could have sworn most of that vegetation was kept alive purely on magic. No tree with branches - or what could be called a tree - ever grew in Egypt for long. Those that did were a sickly comparison to the tall redwood trees in Lebanon.

A flash of reddish violet hair caught Bakura's eye and he ducked below the balcony railing. Another peak over confirmed that was pharaoh. Coming... up the nearest staircase. He bit his lip to keep from swearing. Pharaoh was coming to see him and he wasn't in the room. That would shorten his escape time to less than two minutes, at the brisk pace Atemu was striding along at.

No choice but to go turn around and go back? Bakura bit his lip to keep from cursing. In his crouched position behind the balcony railing, he turned suddenly and saw Seth at a balcony far on the other side of the palace. Clear enough to see that it was Seth was far too close. He could turn his head at any moment and -

"Guards, guards! Bakura has escaped!"

Bakura's head shot directly up to the balcony above him. Mana was screaming and pointing and flailing her arms around. The brat. Curse the light. What was this? 'Every body decides to go out and have a look over their balcony time?' Bakura groaned and sat back against the railing. No point now. Guards came running from one direction, Pharaoh from the other. Pharaoh got seconds before the guards did and he crossed his arms menacingly. Bakura sighed and looked up with the most innocent pleading look he could muster...

"Just getting a bit of fresh air...?"

Five minutes later and Pharaoh had Bakura dragged back to the room by his hair and locked to the bedpost pole with some fancy golden bracelets. The guards thought it necessary and Pharaoh didn't care, but Bakura thought his wrists had been tortured enough lately. Mana had been calmed and called down to examine and fix pharaoh's door quickly. Once the room was empty all except for Pharaoh and Bakura, Pharaoh unlocked the golden shackles and pushed them aside.

"Is this because of this morning? Bakura, I'm not going to punish you for that little incident purely because of what happened the other night with Seth at dinner."

Bakura quirked an eyebrow, "Why am I still benefiting from that? You've never let benefit's last so long."

Pharaoh nodded in a dismissive and changed the subject, "Are you hungry?"

"Yes..."

Bakura decided it best to not sound too hasty about it. Last time he did that, he was denied food after all. He could go longer without food, he had before... Atemu slid closer to Bakura and wrapped an arm around his shoulders to trace small circles on his opposite arm.

"Would kitten like some nice milk to lap up?"

Grudgingly, Bakura wished he would never ever have to ever respond to the name "kitten" ever again. But as of right now, he had to...

"If Pharaoh wishes to offer some up. Why are you-"

"-Listen, Bakura, there's a reason I'm buttering you up with food, don't play coy with me!"

Atemu held out his hand. Magic wove itself around it in light blue florescent strands, and a shallow saucer of milk appeared. Atemu smiled that devious smile of his and set it in Bakura's lap. Bakura frowned at it and grabbed it to make sure it wouldn't spill. Hell if he'd actually drink it.

"What about a nice juicy, tender steak?"

Bakura couldn't help but prick he's ears up at that. Juicy? Tender? Go on...

"Or, what about..." Atemu rested his chin playfully on Bakura's shoulder, "You get a steak every night for dinner."

Okay, things were getting irritating now. What did Pharaoh want?

"And... how would I go about getting such... delicious delicacies?"

"It's simple. Spy on Seth."

"Play spy? Why...? Oh, because he tried to send that assassin at you? I don't think he really-"

"You will do this. I know you know about the rafters. You let that slip early. But I didn't let everyone know about it or else we'd all be looking up all the time to watch our stuff. You will go out every morning and find Seth's room. You will report to me everyone he talks to, every paper he signs, every visitor, everything he eats, everything! When you come back to me every evening you will get your meal and tell all."

"Pharaoh," Bakura laughed, "You let me go where I won't be watched? I could escape easily."

"You will not escape. The other priests and I will sense if you leave the palace walls. We will know when you step even a single toe out of line and the guards will be upon you instantaneously."

Bakura thought about this sullenly, staring down at his milk saucer. Another thought occurred to him. Several more, actually. Which was all but one too many to reveal to Pharaoh at the moment.

"How will I possibly keep good records on what Seth does? I can't possibly remember every detail..."

"I'm not bribing you enough? If steaks aren't good enough for you..."

"No, no! That's not what I meant at all. I'm being serious, I don't want more. A.. uh... scribe to write things down would be nice."

"That's right, you can't read or write... But a scribe is far too clumsy for trailing along behind you in the rafters. They would be noisy, or fall, or worse yet come out and tell Seth about the entire conspiracy."

Bakura's eyes brightened and he stabbed at his chance.

"Perhaps... I could get someone I know, who's been around before? I know people who can read and wri--"

"No, I'll find someone. Someone who I know won't like Seth... someone... ah. Anzu."

"Anzu!"

"You know the girl?"

Bakura grimaced. Her squeaky voice ran through his brain and it felt like needles were trying to pierce themselves into his skin all at the same time. He indeed had known Anzu. Anzu was a girl in a rival inn and bar down in the city. Maaliki always wanted him to check up on other bars to see how the competition was fairing. When he told that innkeeper that he was Thief King, he was offered a free room, free food, and his choice of concubines for the night. Lovely offers they were, so of course he took them up. Little did he know that when he chose the pretty shy girl with the intriguing eyes... that she would be a squeaky wretch that would follow him home and seek freedom from the sex slave industry that her last living relative supposedly dropped her off into.

Atemu knew Anzu from waaaay back in the day when he and Mahado, Mana, and Jono were all playmates. Then Seth showed up and was jealous of Atemu having so many friends and decided to dismiss as many as he could. Anzu disappeared shortly after his 10th birthday due to "conflicting interests" or something on behalf of associating with too much non-royal blood. Jono was sent off a while after that, but for his own reasons. Jono had wanted to be a guard or some such. A personal guardian for the Pharaoh. In title and battle field status at least. Things became a downward spiral from there when Mahado went off to magic studies and Mana went in tow. He was all alone with the new boy, Seth. And Seth had some very... unusual moral values involving many things... To make a very long story very very short, Anzu figured out that it was all Seth's fault that she didn't get to marry into royal blood again or some such and has hated him, or at the very least feared him, every since.

"Yes I know the girl."

"Then I shall send for her."

Again, Bakura grimaced but said nothing against the so-called demi-god who was his asshole of a master. Bakura saw many opportunities in this freedom to roam the palace. And he wasn't about to let any of them slip until Pharaoh found it was too late. The hawk messenger system, for example. He could contact Maaliki and... well... he'd work from there.

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_And so now I expect you to review. -sticks out tongue-_


	12. Rafters Above

_Do **not** stick me in a computer room with a chair that swirls around in a circle. I'll go round and round until I get dizzy and sick. ˘.˘; In other news, its time to start the birthday countdown! Sixteen more days 'til I'm sixteen!_

_---_

Pharaoh spent that night huddled happily in Bakura's chest, demanding that he be held. Bakura didn't move the entire night, but he was uninterested in watching Atemu sleep. Bakura didn't sleep. He spent the night focusing on his goals, fine tuning his plans, and thinking of what to tell Maaliki. Maaliki, of course, knew he wasn't dead because probably everyone old enough to understand in the whole Ra-be-damned city knew about Pharaoh's _kitten_.

Bakura's eyes were ablaze while remembering Kruelna. He _would_ get the Millennium Items back, whatever it took, but he was certain staying here like _this_ wasn't going to get him any closer to having them. He needed to break away and come back to steal them. The first he would get back was that Millennium Ring that he'd taken off of Mahado's body. The other priests stripped him of that the moment he was dragged back into the palace the _first_ time. _That_ time was the time he got this sentence. Now, of course, the Millennium Ring was for sure in Mahado's tomb.

Bakura only recognized that it was finally morning when a thin ray of sunlight hit him from between the crack where the door met the wall. For the first time he looked down at Atemu, sleeping peacefully. Bakura shook his head. He couldn't believe that he had seen this boy at his most demonic and at his most angelic times. And he could keenly say he enjoyed neither.

Half an hour later, Pharaoh was up. The large wooden door was wide open and guarded. Pharaoh was standing with his arms outstretched, whilst three or four scantily dressed girls raced around dressing him. This was the morning routine. Bakura yawned and rolled over in the spacious bed. Sometimes Bakura could almost convince himself life here wasn't so bad for him, but it just wasn't his thing. He would rather be freezing cold, drenched, waking up in a ditch somewhere so long as he had his freedom.

As the girls finished and were sent on their giggling merry way, Pharaoh turned to Bakura.

"Remember to do as you were told and you'll get that nice juicy steak, alright?"

Bakura sat up and stretched. Ah yes, today he was supposed to stalk Seth.

"Yes," Bakura responded on the dot along with a rarely done, "my Pharaoh."

Pharaoh gave him an accusing frown, but shook it off and smirked. He snapped his fingers and walked out the large wooden door, and the guards closed it behind him.

Darkness once again leapt from every corner of the room to fill it. Bakura welcomed the darkness like an old friend. The fiend's eyes glistened slightly in the dark and he listened carefully to his surroundings. The lock on the door wasn't heard latching. Footsteps walked away. He leapt up, eager to go open the door.

He paused for a moment at the handle. Was it really going to be this easy? If he was seen before he made it up into the rafters, Pharaoh would be greatly displeased. For one day, Bakura supposed, it wouldn't hurt to do what Pharaoh wanted. No one would be the wiser for hours upon hours if he ran off without setting off the so-called alarms Pharaoh set he had set around the perimeter of the palace. And even if he did set them off, there were still ways to avoid capture.

What bothered Bakura was that Pharaoh was showing actual honest signs of trusting him. _No one_, he thought, _should ever trust me. Except maybe Maaliki._

Bakura pulled the door open. A quick glance around, a dash down the hall, a run up a set of stairs he didn't quite make it to the previous attempt and a climb up a statue landed him on the roof of the entire palace. Now that he was away from the protective shade of the palace itself, the sun bared down on him relentlessly. He soaked it up like a sponge of happiness. The sun, good Ra, how he missed the sun.

He considered for a moment to stay on the roof and enjoy his morning bathing in the sun, but thought better of it when he remembered that there was still a small possibility of being seen. An expert thief never took chances, and never let any opportunities slip away.

Quickly, Bakura scrambled over the roof to the side of the building. Though it didn't rain too entirely often in Egypt, when it did rain the inhabitants of the palace liked to catch the water in a spout on the side of the building and funnel it down to the kitchens. Therein lay the key to getting into the palace rafters. The funnel wound its way from the roof outside of the palace down through three stories of rafters.

This was the only part of the palace infrastructure where there were three solid stories of unused space. The space was there solely to house to the funnel… and a ladder, in case repair work needed to be done on the said funnel. Not only was this the way into any particular story of the palace's rafters, one has to come back to this side of the palace and up or down that ladder to change what story they are on. The ladder itself was in mint condition, having been used so rarely, if at all by anyone besides people sneaking in or out like Bakura.

One might think it odd that each story of the palace had its own set of rafters, but that was just how the place had been built. Bakura puzzled this himself every time he climbed down into the building using the ladder. The ladder was inside the building and out of sight save from the sky above, also giving him light to see by, or from the dark utility closet below. He climbed down the second story and stepped out onto the main rafter.

The main rafter ran from the kitchens in the back of the palace all the way to the front of the palace in the main hall. Some of the rafters were big, and some were small. Likewise, some were wood and some were stone. Bakura crawled out into the first room. The palace was pretty open. The walls separating individual rooms came up only to touch the rafters, never higher. The space between the rafters and the floor of the story above was an average of four feet, some times more, but then again, sometimes less. Bakura supposed this allowed for ventilation. But the only really statistical information about these rafters that was ever useful to Bakura was the overall layout.

It was dark up in the rafters, with the exception of a particularly large room that was open to the outside or a small room that had at least one window. Candles were used in the palace, but candle light alone would never reach the rafters. Sometimes chandeliers full of candles that were roped over the rafters and raised and lowered by servants at the other end of the rope on the ground. The chandeliers were always dangerous to go near. Servants were often looking up to check on them if they'd been tied off to long and running out of wax.

And so… Bakura's adventure begins.

TBC…

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Sorry to cut it short, but it was really long. Those paragraphs are ginormous! O.o (I **am** admitting it was short, but it only took me an hour to write. Be happy for an update? Besides, _I_ thought those paragraphs were huge on my Word editor.)

_Review!_


	13. No One Loves You, No One Ever Will

_Its 6:33 and I'm already here at school writing in the computer lab. Now trust me guys, I started writing this chapter on the last day of WASL testing, but my week since then was hectic, so now I'll just pick up where I left off… Then something went wacko with the school computers and it wouldn't let me upload anything to ff-net. So sorry for the wait, here's the chapter...In other news, I got my second Sukisho dvd and Advent Children came out! YAY! –glomps Kadaj- _‍_‍‍‍‍ _өӨ

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Bakura, hunched over so he could most easily traverse the rafters, passed quickly over the rafters of Pharaoh's room and into the next. He always wondered who his neighbors were, but whoever they were, they either weren't there or they were still asleep. Here was a well lit room with the beads hanging from the entrance instead of a door. Servants were replacing the sheets on the bed, and the owner of the room was sitting in the corner cross legged reading a book in his lap.

Here he turned to the left and knew instantly he was in Seth's room. There were six girls in that room with him. Two were feeding Seth cut up pieces of fruit dipped in honey and one was playing a lyre, another drumming a small drum, while the last two were dancing for Seth's own entertainment. Foul thoughts crossed Bakura's mind. Seth made himself out to be more pampered and indulgent than even Pharaoh and it disgusted him.

The rhythmic music was interrupted with a start when the door slammed open, revealing a much stressed looking Shadah and Karim. They were two other priests; one owned the Millennium Key, and the other, the Millennium Scales.

"High Priest, we have important news!"

"Is important to _me_? I'm trying to have a relaxing morning, the least you two could do is knock."

A relaxing morning, eh? Shadah's glare shot daggers at Seth, but Karim went on, not fazed in the slightest.

"Shadah suggested we not tell you, but I'm afraid I must. All five of the priests holding the Millennium Items did make a pact on our initiation together, and I plan to hold to it." Karim looked at Shadah accusingly before turning back to Seth, "My loyalty is to you, Seth."

Bakura saw Seth thumbing his Millennium Rod and smiling like his devious self.

"So the news is important to me?"

"Pharaoh is sending someone to spy on you, he doesn't trust you. He told us! Our conversation may not be private."

Bakura's eyes widened and he backed into the space between the rooms where it was darkest. So these two priests were more loyal to Seth than to Pharaoh? Well Pharaoh is younger than them all… Bakura could bet that they did consider Seth to be the real ruler, and Pharaoh as just Seth's puppet. It made the most sense. Leaders all over the world are often manipulated as such. Bakura just thought Pharaoh had more loyal priests than that.

Seth frowned, "Thank you for the news, Karim. You've been quite useful. I will go talk to Pharaoh about this…" he sat up, "Now that Mahado isn't around to stop me, there's no real reason why we can't pull a tighter rein around little Atemu's neck."

And Seth had said _Bakura_ was the one manipulating Pharaoh? Bakura honestly knew he shouldn't be as flustered about it all as he was right then. He didn't give a damn about Pharaoh, did he? Certainly not. What happens to Pharaoh is Pharaoh's business, and what happened to Bakura was Bakura's. Bakura backed in to the other room and turned to go. He should leave now before anyone knew.

He took a right and headed back to the kitchens. Down the ladder he went to the bottom. He then listened against the utility door, and when he didn't hear anything, he opened the door and did a quick walk around the storage room. Bakura didn't care for fruits, so he passed by those for half a loaf of bread. This, he stuck in his mouth so he could keep a hold of it while climbing back up the ladder.

_I don't care about Pharaoh!_

Bakura reached the roof and stood. This was best view of the entire city and the Nile's waters sparkling just beyond.

_It's all a game to him – he doesn't care._

His eyes narrowed dangerously. He was leaving this time. He didn't need to take this.

"_Love you? No one could ever love you. No one ever will!" That's what Pharaoh said to me._

Bakura skimmed the city, picking out a certain building. That was the bar Maaliki owned. He'd pick up Maaliki and they'd both be traveling far, far away from this hell hole. He'd always cared for his only friend, and he was pretty sure that Maaliki felt more than just some friendship towards him. Bakura never let him Maaliki get in his heart, he had rejected him, merely telling him that it would be too dangerous - if anyone else learned about Maaliki they would find his only weakness. Respectfully, Maaliki just smiled, but he continued to be as playful as ever.

Just thinking back on how Maaliki loved him, Bakura knew Pharaoh was wrong. But he felt miserable about the entire thing… If only he had been with Maaliki when he had the chance, because now he had already been tainted by Pharaoh and Seth. Bakura bit back on bitter thoughts, and looked back to the rooftop.

_I'd give anything to be with Maaliki now._

Bakura began to sprint across the roof. _Forget sending him a hawk. I doubt the hawks even know where the hell he is._ He looked over the far west side of the palace and scowled at the layout of the town surrounding Maaliki's bar. There were no shadows to slink back into, but the sun was almost complete in its rising. And no one would dare look up at that fiery ball; it could blind fools that did. No one would look up and in happenstance see Bakura and he knew it. So he stayed put and began to plot out his means of reaching Maaliki.

Pharaoh's palace wasn't the only royal structure on this side of the river by any means. This was the _east_ side of the river. Certain things were only built on the east side of the river, it can be supposed, because when one was traveling with the current of the river, North towards the Mediterranean, their right hand would always face the east side. Bakura found that didn't make any sense but the damned priests could interpret just about anything anyway they wanted. (You have the right to remain silent – anything you say can and will be _misquoted _and then used against you.)

Thebes was set along side the Nile. The Nile, of course, is the center of trade for the people in the city. They would boil and burn without the Nile there to perpetually keep them cool with an occasional breeze of cool air coming off the water. The palace itself, however, was set back away from the Nile and the heat directed towards Bakura's back was blazing, just short of burning. The royal and religious figures themselves, too, had uses for the Nile. Therefore it was only fitting that from the palace there was a wide arc around the city filled with temples fitted with their own half a mile (not literally) of docking. The city of Thebes itself really was huge and grandeur, but the arc that surrounded the Nile harboring side of the city was even more exquisite with all its obelisks and statuettes.

Foolishly, of course, Bakura's fellow Egyptians worshipped such things as crocodiles and lions. Bakura thought this foolish for two very simple reasons. One being that they offered food to them inside temples where none where to be found (he used to steal that food). Two being that it was against the law, because of the religion, to kill a crocodile or a lion even if your life was in danger. See, Bakura didn't like that sort of law. If something was going to kill you – you kill it first.

He chuckled and then went back to thinking, scanning the long promenade between the palace and the Nile. The harbor was huge and the Nile itself was huge. The shipping harbor was large and T shaped. It was home to large barges used for all sorts of things, trading included. It also housed the great golden barge called "The Dazzling Aten" on which the Pharaoh and his priests sailed forth during religious and state festivals, in the same way the statues of the gods and goddesses were (foolishly) transported. The harbor also made it possible for the Pharaoh to reach the temples on the opposite bank of the river.

The problem here was, indeed, the distance between here, the palace, and there, the Nile. Basically he had to get away from the section of the city that the guards would be patrolling. Pharaoh would, so he said, instantly know when and if Bakura set a toe out of line so he needed all the time he could get his hands on.

He turned and walked to the other end of the palace. His feet were bare and he found himself wishing slippers. He wanted to smack himself for thinking about slippers. Bakura had been introduced to slippers since his stay in the palace. They were oh so soft and far more comfortable than sandals.

To the south east the land was desolate. There was no city beyond the palace. Not even an estate for a priest. Where the palace stopped, literally, the desert began. Everything was dead and looked blisteringly hot. Heat waves distorted a cliff in the distance. The Nile only spread its bounty so far away from its silt covered fertile banks. The desert was no stranger to Bakura, but it was certainly not a friend to anyone.

Bakura gave one last glance over his shoulder at the noise and bustle of the bountiful city, a glance that could be confused as sadness, but then made up his mind. The desert would be his key to freedom. The night was his friend, but he didn't have until then. He would wait in the shadow of the palace walls until night fell and then sneak outlike the silent thief he truly was.

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Review, ne? Again, sorry if its not long enough for your taste. It's something, ok?


	14. Maaliki's Fallen Angel

_I devote this chapter to uh... Javanese Kitten. Better author's note at the end of the chapter. And, duh, I don't own Yugioh. But! Takahashi is making a mini-arc to Capsule Monsters, on this Saturday the 2nd of September. Don't forget, its also Ryou Bakura's birthday!_

_Anyway.. If I owned Yugioh then Bakura would have defeated Yami Malik in Battle City and forced him to be his 'pet.' Heh heh..._

**_◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦  
_****_That night..._**

"Ra! I'm so stupid!" Atemu screamed in aggravation, tearing at his bed sheets. It was the middle of the night, but he just couldn't sleep knowing the fact that Bakura was out there someplace and had betrayed him.

The large wooden door opened magically in relative silence. Atemu lifted his head up numbly and watched Seth enter the room.

Seth looked over and gave a disgruntled sigh. Without any Bakura at all, his plans weren't going to work to overthrow Pharaoh. Besides... little Pharaoh was 'cute' when he was frustrated. Atemu could act like a temperamental toddler at times, but whenever he was, it was at least beneficial to Seth. He walked over and set his hand down on Pharaoh's shoulder.

"We'll get your pet back, I promise..." Seth assured him. He mentally chuckled to himself. He wanted that exotic creature back just as much as Pharaoh did, and not quite for the same reasons.

Atemu looked up tearfully, "I never should have trusted him. Never! Not ever!"

Seth nodded and sat on Pharaoh's bed, gently pulling the smaller teen into his arms, "Never again. But as I said... we will get him back."

Atemu let out a wail of sorts and turned to bury his head into Seth's chest. Seth ran his fingers through his pharaoh's silky hair and smirked. Things weren't going as planned, no, but... he could play on this.

"You're going to be lonely tonight... aren't you?"

Pharaoh never was as dumb as Seth thought him to be. He knew Seth was just leading him on. But he was lonely! His lower lip quivered and new tears broke free from his eyes. The nerve of that rascal to ever say he loved him! _He shouldn't ever be allowed to love, not that the thief even knows what it means to love._

He curled up in Seth's lap and arms and mumbled softly, "Just hold me... I need someone. Anyone..."

**_- ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ -  
Meanwhile...?_**

Wind swept Bakura's hair viciously. He was nothing but a silhouette on a cliff's horizon east of the city. Now this is what he was used to - success. He still didn't have Diabound, but he could make due! His eyes glittered brilliantly. He stood up and became lost in the night sky.

"I am the darkness!" He shouted.

"Bakura?"

"Hm?" he turned and there was nothing.

Nothing. Or...?

He found himself being shook awake gently by his precious Maaliki.

"You were dreaming." Maaliki whispered, "But we have to leave soon. It's almost dawn and the city is already bristled about your disappearance."

Ah. That's right... he finally got away from Pharaoh. That's what his dream meant, of course. He smirked at Maaliki.

"Don't worry. I just haven't gotten much sleep. But I'm ready."

Maaliki nodded with a firm look of determination. That was only a mask to cover his sympathy for Bakura, though. So how had Bakura managed to escape? Easily, but, your imagination, please. Bakura sat up and brushed a hand through his hair. Maaliki was immensely relieved that he still acted like his old self. He fell into a sudden daydream while watching Bakura. Maaliki had fallen in love with the thief long before Bakura even realized it. Maaliki wasn't sympathetic of Bakura, as Bakura believed. Rather, he admired him. Bakura. His _fallen _angel.

Bakura stared at Maaliki's lack of response with a small frown.

"Hey. I thought you said it was time to go."

"Huh? Oh! Right." Maaliki hopped up from his chair. "I'm all packed."

"Maaliki... we're not taking anything."

"But..."

"Come on!" Bakura stood up and darted into the next room, "Before someone steals our horses."

"Why did you insist on horses anyway, Bakura?" Maaliki growled, "We've had this argument before. They're less intelligent and they're slow!"

Bakura rolled his eyes and pulled on his coat as Maaliki stepped into the doorway.

"Horses are more cooperative. Horses can also run faster than camels for short distances. A camel can't outrun a horse and would be too lazy to want to."

"Horses can't handle the desert, Bakura!"

Bakura smirked, and pushed some curtains back from the window to peer outside at the lightening sky.

"They will if they have shadow magic supporting them."

"Hm? What! Bakura... you have a millennium item again?"

"No... but that's why we're going to rob Mahado's tomb." Bakura pulled a small empty pack over his shoulder and headed out the back door, "Let's go."

**_- ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ -  
Pharaoh's morning..._**

When Pharaoh awoke in the late hours of the morning it was to Seth's soft snoring and the baying of an annoyingly loud rooster somewhere in town. He vaguely remembered Seth slipping into his room last night. He had cried himself to sleep in Seth's arms. Atemu sighed. He knew Seth wouldn't and couldn't use his tears against him, but he still wished he hadn't shown his High Priest that he was so upset over things.

But the tears of the last night were gone. He stared coldly at the darkness above his bed. He would catch his thief again. And this time... he'd keep him permanently by his side. But what sort of magic would bind like that? He had little knowledge of such, but Seth must. Atemu smirked at the darkness above and yawned before rolling over to get a few more hours rest.

**_- ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ -  
Not so happily ever after?_**

Bakura wrapped an arm around Maaliki's waist and frowned thoughtfully at the workmen below. The would-be tombrobbers were atop a cliff overlooking where Mahado's tomb would be. Mahado was a fresh death, yes, and it takes a lot to mummify a person, so he'd heard. But they still weren't done filling the tomb with meaningless treasure! He didn't even know where the Millennium Ring was among that mess of gold that was being carted in.

"Bakura... you said Mahado was _cut in half_?" Maaliki cringed at the thought.

Bakura grunted in response.

After several more minutes of watching the slaves work like ants, the thief muttered, "Must be why its taken so long. Can't mummify a body cut in half very easily, now can they?"

He shook his head. This was disappointing. He marched back to the horses angrily and swung himself up. Maaliki followed suit.

"Come on, let's ride someplace far away that Pharaoh's never even heard of. We don't need the Millennium Ring anyway."

**_- ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ - ◦ -_**

_Ok, a short update, but an update nonetheless. It's been a tiring summer. At the beginning of the summer my plot bunny literally died. Two of them, in fact... -sigh- I own rabbits, and two of them died right after I got out of school. I've been in mourning. I also went on vacation to California (14 rides in 8 hours - Disneyland!)_

_Anyway, school is starting soon, so I'll put myself on a schedule to update, how's that sound?_

_Review!_ **n.n**


	15. Crocodile Teeth

Ok... I'm bringing religious stuff up in this chapter. This isn't to diss anyone or show off my knowledge either way. Its just to give a prospective of the time period. Not that this was anywhere near the time of Moses, which apparently happened with Ramses which happened after Tut, and of course I'm placing Tut as Atem, just because he was a young Pharaoh. Nextly, this is a Mary-Sue-Free-Zone as in, there will be no long-lost relatives popping up. Either they're a character in the show itself, of they're a minor character with a name that probably won't last till the end of the next chapter. If you -really- hate Tamar, I'll comfort you by telling you she's old enough to be Bakura's mom for one, and for two, just ask me and I'll kill her off in the next chapter. I was actually intending slave traders to ambush where they set up camp and kidnap her, but... I may just get rid of the issue all together by letting our two thieves continue their adventure going downriver up the Nile (oooh, what an oxymoron) and not stopping for lunch.

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Four hours later, with the sun nearly at full rise, Bakura and Maaliki stopped for rest. Bakura had been in a foul mood ever since they'd left the Valley of the Kings and because of that the horses had been run to exhaustion. Good thing for them, Bakura realized what he'd been doing and decided he didn't want to kill them off. They'd taken rest now in the shade of an overhanging cliff next to the Nile. Crocodiles were, of course, a constant danger when next to the Nile.

However, Bakura made no effort to check for crocodiles and sat in an angry heap next to the Nile as if he was having a staring contest with his reflection. Maaliki led the horses to the water. One drank quite thirstily, the other seemed to be too exhausted to realize there was water all around him. Maaliki gave the panting confused horse a comforting pat.

"Where will we go? Gods, there are slave traders all over the place!" Bakura hissed. He snatched up a rock and lunged it into the water.

Maaliki cringed at Bakura's forcefulness.

"North or South?" Bakura demanded.

"Huh?" Maaliki popped his head up immediately realizing his friend was talking to him.

"You decide..."

"North..." Said Maaliki hesitantly.

"Mmm... why?"

"The Nile flows north and we can cover more distance that way. Oh! And there was that pyramid that collapsed. I'd like to see that!"

Bakura gave a grin at Maaliki's enthusiasm.

"So we'd have to get a boat, and..." Bakura started. However, he was cut off by a loud cry.

"Iiieeyah! Hallelujah!"

One person, female by the squealy-ness, ran into the water behind Maaliki and began wading out. This was followed by several more cries of "hallelujah!" and by several, okay, a tad more than several people, streaming into the cliff protected Nile beach and bounding into the water. Dumbstruck, the would-be tomb robbers stared. Bakura leapt up. He chose this spot because it was secluded! Who in Sobek's name were these oddballs!

The first woman who had leapt into the water, surely tempting the crocodiles, whom which the entire two dozen or so other people followed, came up to our two boys, dripping wet.

"Greetings, fair strangers." Says she.

Maaliki gave a miniscule bow. She appeared to be important to this group of people, as she had leapt in first. Also, he noted, she appeared to be highly adorned in jewelry. Bakura couldn't seem to get his mouth to work, for once, and merely nodded, wide eyed, as his hello. More people surrounded them, all dripping from their dunks in the river. Bakura and Maaliki's eyes both seemed to land on the woman's necklace at the same time and Bakura found his voice upon seeing it.

"Th-those... th-they're... crocodile teeth!"

Bakura wanted to slap himself for stuttering like that. But this, if anything, was an acceptable occasion to be stunned. A crocodile had been killed to make that necklace! Crocodiles were sacred beasts protected by the god Sobek himself. Sure, most people scoffed at the fact that such a dangerous animal was worshipped simply because that meant they weren't exactly allowed to defend someone, including themselves, against an attacking crocodile, though, they did that anyway. But to actually kill a crocodile... not just fending one off? And then to go and defile the beast by yanking out its pearly whites and making them into a necklace! These people were no Egyptians!

Maaliki faltered in shock but quickly regained himself by stamping his foot into the river bank and demanding, "Who are you people!"

All the activity and noise was making the horses edgy.

"Oh how rude of us, we are Bedouin, wanderers of the desert."

"Crocodiles are scared to the Egyptians!" Maaliki sounded outraged to Bakura as he pointed to her necklace.

"We are also Hebrew." she announced proudly, standing tall and looming over the Maaliki's golden-topped head, "And we do not believe in your pagan deities. We believe in our one unseen holy God."

This statement was followed by a rallying cry of, "Amen!" from the woman's dripping wet companions. Maaliki was about to retort with a smart ass comment, so Bakura put a stop to that before Maaliki got the chance.

"I have heard of the Hebrews," announced Bakura, "from people in the palace that were forced into slavery." He looked the woman from head to toe and back. "It is their religion," the thief smirked, "and I like the sounds of it."

"Wonderful!" Exclaimed the woman with joy, clapping her hands together, "I, as the chosen navigational leader, invite you to stay with us for as long as you like, even if only for one meal."

Bakura and Maaliki exchanged glances.

"Excuse me, what did you say your name was, again?" asked Bakura, stalling.

"Tamar is what I am called here, and who are you?"

Maaliki piped up first, "I am Maaliki, ex-apprentice to the priests in Karnak, the sacred city," this was followed by a muttered, "to the Egyptians at least."

Bakura gave Maaliki one of those accusing looks that was meant to tell him 'what the holy hell were you thinking - telling them your real name like that!' Bakura folded his arms over and looked at the woman, Tamar she had said her name was, square in the eye.

"I don't what you think of runaway slaves, but I am one. That's all you need to know. I hear you Hebrews take them in all the time."

"So what are we to call you?" Tamar asked.

"Let's just skip that part," Bakura hissed as if he had a forked tongue.

That was obviously the wrong thing to say because the woman folded her arms over her chest in imitation of Bakura, and said the following with a scowl:

"Alright, but we will not be harboring criminals!"

Bakura's face didn't so much as twitch and Maaliki looked to Bakura. Maaliki had this moral issue about not telling nice people at least a half-truth. And if he didn't say something, even Bakura knew that would look off. Maaliki never could tell a proper lie. Everything that boy said had to be taken with a grain of salt. Bakura nodded at Maaliki and let him go ahead. And so Maaliki, the honest angel that he was, spilled out a some truths. Not the whole truth, but truth enough.

"Well... Bakura was a criminal. He went to trial and was assigned punishment several years ago. But that is in the past."

The woman seemed to accept this, but a tall skinny man on her right came out then and demanded, "So what'd he do?"

"I offended one of their many gods," Bakura sneered, "I would bother telling you which ones, but its not like they exist anyway, right?"

Maaliki looked at Bakura as if he'd grown two heads. Of course he couldn't have meant what he had just said. Maaliki knew for a fact and had seen with his own eyes that Bakura had in fact seen, talked to, and was even touched by a god. Zorc! But again, Bakura just tossed Maaliki another one of those old well-known looks that said, 'duh, I'm lying, but at least it sounded good.'

And, naturally, the woman believed every word of it. Tamar's featured calmed into a warm motherly smile...

TBC!

----

Woot I wrote this entire chapter at school! Took all week writing on paper... its six pages back and front on paper.

I used a lot of really cliche phrases such as "taken with a grain of salt" and "grown two heads" but... I'm just trying to imitate my parents there. ((Adults say the oddest phrases at times like "six in one hand, half dozen in the other" which basically means that what ever the things they were relating the phrase to were exactly the same thing but called two different things. Then again that's not as bad as my grandparents saying "picking gnat poop out of pepper" which makes even less sense. But you get the idea. And I don't even wanna know why Carter had liver pills. o.o;;))

Anyway... review!


	16. Nightmare's Eve

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Ooooo_ Dream Sequence // Pharaoh_ ooooO

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_**Bakura pulled his head down to meet Pharaoh's in an act once beautifully submissive, but now utterly possessive. The aristocrat's eyes widened in fear and realization of Bakura's mal-intent but the strong thief suddenly grasped the smaller male's arms and pulled him into a dominating embrace. 

"Now is the time for just desserts, Atemu dearest." Bakura sneered, tracing a finger up the pharaoh's face, pharaoh's eyes glazed over with a sudden awakening shock. Atemu made an attempt to brush Bakura off casually so he could thereby scold him for even daring to touch him in that way, but it was futile. And what exactly did he mean by just desserts?

What is happening?! Is this a dream? It's a dream, it has to be a dream!

Now Pharaoh strained to get away, but Bakura's grip held fast. After a few moments of mock chuckling, Bakura grabbed Atemu's wrists and flipped over atop of him, leaving Atemu in a most defenseless position. This panicked Pharaoh even more, but even so, underneath the fear, it was alluring. Bakura bent down his head and nicked Atemu's cheek with his teeth, causing him to flinch. Then the thief's husky voice came to Pharaoh's ear.

"You owe me."

"H-how so... " said Atemu in meek distress.

"All this unnecessary punishment you've put me through," seethed the tomb robber, "So now you will pay as I have paid, and I will see you writhe and scream for it... I'm not weak like you, by any means, so even though I never showed the pain on my face, it was there inside all along, scarring me... but you, being weak, hopefully show a delightful array of pleas for my mercy."

Atemu shivered out a whimper at Bakura's calm cool voice. He didn't have to torture him to corrode his soul, his voice was damaging enough!

"But..." Pharaoh started in bitter contradiction, "You said..."

He paused to gain confidence and Bakura arched an eyebrow.

"You said that... that you loved me."

Atemu stared into Bakura's eyes. Bakura's eyes were no longer steady, conniving, and cruel. Those eyes of his, try as they might to hide his soul, flickered with remnant of some emotion he never really knew he had. This strange emotion conflicted greatly with his intentions. What was he to do? He didn't want this futile mention of so-called "love" to thwart his plans at revenge on the Pharaoh. Atemu saw this as his chance to scramble away, but was thrust backwards once more as Bakura pulled him into a tight headlock.

"Love? What love? I know..." The fiend hissed in his ear, "... no love."

Something sharp was fiercely thrust into Pharaoh's side and tears sprang to his eyes from the pain. Bakura's headlock kept him from crying out in pain, but what's worse, he found himself unable to breathe hardly at all. Gasping for air and flailing madly, Bakura showed no remorse in his eyes when Atemu looked up and saw them, his own eyes pleading. Bakura's eyes seemed somehow placid, but hollow. Emotionless would be the farthest thing from what they could be described as, because they were very full of one emotion - undeniably sick pleasure. And with that, Pharaoh drifted into blackness.

...moments later, however, he rose out of his sleep shrieking. As one lungful of screaming would cease another took its place. Eventually, someone came running, and that someone was Seth.

"My pharaoh!" Seth exclaimed upon bursting into the room with less flare than usual, "My pharaoh, what's wrong?"

Pharaoh didn't cease until Seth had crawled onto the bed and firmly placed both his hands on Pharaoh's shoulders. Suddenly realizing he was very much alive, Atemu fell forward and gave Seth a rather limp hug.

"Oh, it was horrible!" Pharaoh sobbed into Seth's chest.

The large door to his very spacious room has been left ajar by the High Priest and now several of the other priests and even Mana had their heads poking in. Seth shot them a glare, but they of course couldn't see that. Seth sighed and hugged Pharaoh back, both protectively and possessively before cursing at the other priests across the room.

"I can handle this, go away, all of you fools! This is too distressing for him as it is, he doesn't need you all here, it would be overwhelming!"

Mana shot him a dirty look, Seth was sure of it, before shouting back, "Well its not like you're the only one who cares about him!"

"Mana!" scolded Isis, "You are never to talk back to the High Priest in that manner!"

The other priest, Shadah made to close the door and responded, "We'll discipline Mana, please, comfort our Pharaoh for us. We apologize for Mana, she's just worried."

"I've never heard him scream like that, and I grew up with him!" Mana exclaimed wildly from outside the door, "Something's terribly wrong!"

"That's quite enough, Mana!" said both priests at once.

"No, thank you though, Shadah, but I shall discipline the girl myself later." announced Seth flatly.

Shadah nodded and the door closed, leaving the room in darkness. Seth tenderly released Atemu and in turn the small teenager looked up and gave Seth a worried expression.

"Seth..." he said softly, "I... I can't remember my dream."

"After all that yelling you can't recall your dream?"

"I don't think I want to." He mumbled, swallowing hard, "Also, Seth... I'm a tad thirsty... my voice is hoarse from all of that..."

Seth gave a sympathetic bob of the head and ran his hand through Atemu's hair. Atemu looked up at him, eyes no longer wavering in fear of his dream. Seth moved to get up in search of water, but Atemu wrapped his arms around one of Seth's arms immediately.

"Oh, no... Seth, water can wait."

"Yes, Pharaoh."

Atemu crawled into Seth's lap, "I'm lonely, now that my pet's off and escaped... c-could you...?

"Could I... what?"

Pharaoh let out a shaky breath and moistened his lips nervously whilst leaning up farther and wrapping his arms around Seth's neck. He gazed into his advisors eyes imploringly.

"You know what I want..."

Seth twitched a frown, "...Pharaoh if the other priests knew I'd ever slept with you at all, I would be in deep, deep violation of-"

Pharaoh pressed his forehead against Seth's and tapped his earring, causing it to dance against Seth's neck.

"Seth," Atemu pouted, "I -want- to do this again. You're my first and you've kept running from me for so long... I'm desperately, lonely..."

Seth grimaced. None of this was going to plan at all, he didn't want to be emotionally attached to the young Pharaoh. And the first time they were together... it just sort of... happened. But, just like every time before, lust starting ebbing away at Seth's rational thought process...

"Seth..." the Pharaoh pleaded breathily in his ear, "I -need- you."

"You need me, eh?" Seth said with a sudden smirk.

He wrapped an arm around Pharaoh's waist and pulled him closer. Atemu let out a small moan and melted into Seth's arms. Seth's spine bristled and tingled with excitement. Why can't he just forget his plans of anarchy just one more night...?

**_

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Ooooo_ Morning, elsewhere // Bakura _ooooO

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_**Bakura awoke slowly, admiring though a crack in his tent the distant sunrise causing the silver morning desert sands to sparkle with a certain radiance that seemed to compliment the wide range of smells that suddenly happened upon the not-so-former thief's nose. This was followed by his precious Maaliki's familiar screeching, that sort that he most often gave off after Bakura purposely did something mischievous, and wondered what his maniacal friend had to complain about at this unholy hour in the morning. 

"You're EATING lion?!" Maaliki exclaimed, aghast. The blonde fell back through the tent flaps and gave a stunned look at Bakura before grasping his shoulders. "They're just FULL of abominable rituals here, aren't they?!" he hissed with fury.

"It attacked our hunting party earlier this morning. It pains us, too, to kill God's creatures, young one."

Maaliki gave a shudder and clung limply to Bakura, "Let's get away from these strangers! What if they're cannibals and we're next on their menu?!"

"Nonsense!" smiled the woman from yesterday, poking her head through the tent flaps, "And come on out, its getting cold.

Bakura sniffed the air again and licked his lips ravenously before gently tossing Maaliki to the side and crawling out of the tent. A ways away was a roaring fire, roasting a few choice cuts of the lion. Beyond was the naked carcass itself, being cut into by the bedouins. And hanging back and above it, was the skinned lions precious fur.

"The lioness put up a proud fight, she did. Injured my pal, she did." Muttered a tall man by the fire, examining a snapped spear. Bakura faintly wondered if the pal was actually a person... or his broken spear.

Maaliki was suddenly looking over Bakura's shoulder and looking around anxiously.

"Can we go now?!" he insisted.

Reluctantly Bakura heaved a sigh, "Fine, we'll go."

Suddenly that woman from the day before was all up in their faces again, "Going so soon?"

"Uh... we have... somewhere to be." Bakura said quickly.

"A likely verisimilitude excuse."

"A verysimollytu- what?" Asked a very sour Maaliki.

"It means it sounds true but its not." She said, putting her hands on her hips, "Now, the truth please, why are you leaving?"

((-i-n-s-e-r-t- -e-x-c-u-s-e- -h-e-r-e-))

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_**

REVIEW, RA-DAMMIT!  
Sorry for that.

Sorry for that. 

So ya'll want some_ smexy_ **action** between Seth and Atemu? Well **too bad**, this isn't adult-fan-fiction-dot-net. A thousand apologizes, but you'll have to leave any smut to your imagination. So, how will Bakura and Maaliki **escape** the grasps of the **_psycho-religious cult_**? I don't know yet either, and frankly,_ I'm leaving that up to the reviewer with the best idea_. But I do know where they're heading for one, and for two... Bakura's title of Thief King has been **challenged** by an old foe. Will Bakura have time to regain his **infamous** name, or will the **slave traders** catch up to him? **Oh noes! Zomg!** _Fear the randomly **bold **words!!_

Well review already, whatchya waiting for, an invitation!?


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